David Thompson
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This professional is available for new clients.
This professional is available for new clients.
About me
I have some availability for couples and individuals. I work daytime, evenings, and Saturdays.
I imagine that you're reading this because something feels painful. The problem may seem small or overwhelmingly large.
I'm an integrative therapist. The humanistic, existential, and psychoanalytic meet in a dialogic and intersubjective fusion. In plain English I offer an authentic, non-judgemental, and accepting personal relationship and notice what is happening in our relationship with regard to a wide range of psychological theory and practice.
However, my practice is influenced just as much by my own lived experience and my doubts about the efficacy of the medical model in dealing with mental health issues.
I've been practising since 2011 and have considerable experience of working both long-term and short-term. In addition to my private practice I've worked in several agencies such as Bristol University, Bath University, and the Carers' Centre with a range of age groups from 18 to 88.
I have a broad spread of experience in dealing with many aspects of human distress and suffering including depression, anxiety, bereavement and loss, and problems in relationships. It may be that it's hard to be sure what the problem is: a loss of a sense of who are and what you want from life, or maybe just a feeling of meaninglessness and that something is missing.
It's never too late to come to therapy. You're never too old or too set-in-your-ways to change yourself and your experience of life. There are some very special moments in a person's life when they feel able to change. I believe that there are many more of these moments in therapy.
Training, qualifications & experience
I have been practising since 2011. I'm a Registered Member of BACP and also Accredited - only one in four qualified counsellors are fully accredited. This is widely regarded as indicating mature competence.
I'm also committed to ongoing learning and have attended numerous courses including studying for several years on a Masters programme in Psychotherapy including a placement in a secure psychiatric unit.
I have also completed additional training in working with Couples with the Centre for Relational Therapy with David Slattery a pre-eminent couples therapist and trainer.
Member organisations
Being registered/accredited with a professional body means an individual must have achieved a substantial level of training and experience approved by their member organisation.
BACP is one of the UK’s leading professional bodies for counselling and psychotherapy with around 60,000 members. The Association has several different categories of membership, including Student Member, Individual Member, Registered Member MBACP, Registered Accredited Member MBACP (Accred) and Senior Registered Accredited Member MBACP (Snr Acccred).
Registered and accredited members are listed on the BACP Register, which shows that they have demonstrated BACP’s recommended standards for training, proficiency and ethical practice. The BACP Register was the first register of psychological therapists to be accredited by the Professional Standards Authority (PSA).
Accredited and senior accredited membership are voluntary categories for members who choose to undertake a rigorous application and assessment process to demonstrate additional standards around practice, training and supervision.
Individual members will have completed an appropriate counselling or psychotherapy course and started to practise, but they won’t appear on the BACP Register until they've demonstrated that they meet the standards for registration. Student members are still in the process of completing their training.
All members are bound by the BACP Ethical Framework and a Professional Conduct Procedure.
Accredited register membership
The Accredited Register Scheme was set up in 2013 by the Department of Health (DoH) as a way to recognise organisations that hold voluntary registers which meet certain standards. These standards are set by the Professional Standards Authority (PSA).
This therapist has indicated that they belong to an Accredited Register.
Areas of counselling I deal with
Other areas of counselling I deal with
Students of 18 and over and Carers
Therapies offered
Photos & videos
Fees
£60.00 - £65.00
Additional information
Couples Therapy costs from £65
When I work
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I work afternoons, evenings, and Saturdays.
Further information
Additional information relevant to couples work.
You will be reading this because there is a particular problem you wish to address in your relationship or because the relationship has reached a crisis and it is unclear whether it will survive.
Some of you may wish to focus on a particular issue such as improving communication skills. Others may wish to work longer to try to understand the, often repeating, patterns in your relationship. This often involves understanding the unconscious influences from the past which may impact upon your present ways of relating to one another.
It is not unusual for one of you to 'trigger' the other and for an escalating argument and deterioration in the relationship to occur. In this instance the work will be for both of you to understand your respective triggers and begin to develop the capacity for empathy and understanding rather than being lost in a traumatised state.
Another potential area for growth may be for each of you to communicate how you feel and for the other person to really listen and avoid falling into a defensive response. It may also be helpful for you to deepen the intimacy between you while also allowing each other space to be independent without fear of abandonment.
